Meet Our Governors

Appointed by Members 11/03/2020

After a degree in Product Design and 2 years as a sabbatical officer for the Students Union I started teaching in the mid 80’s, firstly as a teacher and leader of Design and Technology in Islington, Camden and Westminster and then as a Senior Leader/Deputy Headteacher. 

I moved into senior leadership developing specialist experience in Teaching and Learning, curriculum development and student progress/standards.  An opportunity through London Challenge took me into school improvement roles and I worked extensively in schools facing challenging circumstances.

I continued to teach D&T, Maths and several other subjects within the curriculum throughout.  I later spent more time training, mentoring and coaching of staff at all levels.

My passion for Designing and Making has stayed with me throughout and the determination to retain open access for girls and young women to male dominated industries is paramount.  I have a specific interest in lateral thinking and mathematical problem solving through team building activities and games.

With a substantial history of teaching in my family, I grew up in Barnet and attended East Barnet School as it became comprehensive.  After university, I settled in Haringey where my 3 children attended our local school, Highgate Wood.

My interest in staff development and support led me to undertake a Professional Certificate in Coaching at the Henley Business School.

I am very pleased to have been asked to join the Governors at Copthall.  My experience there as a Consultant Senior Leader has been a very positive one and I would like to continue to support the school in any way I can.

After studying for a degree in Engineering I began my working career with British Petroleum in their on-shore exploration division. Whilst I found that enjoyable my decision to change direction a few years later, to train as a Maths teacher, was one I did not regret.

My career in education has been within state comprehensive, mixed and single sex schools in inner and outer London boroughs. I have had experience in both student well-being and curriculum responsibilities at both middle and then senior leadership levels. On retiring from education, I had been a Deputy Headteacher for 14 years. I now work for myself in property management.

Like Copthall, the schools I have worked in have all been committed to an approach that is inclusive and aims to secure the best life chances for young people. In the different roles I had I gained a very broad experience of educational leadership which I feel will enable me to take up the role of governor in an informed and positive way. In work I have been involved in since leaving schools I have been specifically responsible for managing financial and other resources, which I believe will be of particular relevance to the Finance and Resources Committee.

I am incredibly pleased to be involved in the work of a school again and am very much looking forward to supporting, and contributing to, the Copthall community.

Appointed by Members 10/09/2021

Having attended school in Scotland, I spent my university days in Edinburgh studying Economics and Accounting.  From there I joined one of the big accounting firms, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1993.  During my 11 years in accounting practice, I was able to build skills in auditing, insolvency and forensic accounting and achieve a fraud examiner qualification.

Over the years the varied financial investigations I worked on heighted my interest in financial regulation leading to me joining the Financial Services Authority in 2000, and ultimately transferring to the Bank of England in 2013 where I have worked ever since.  I have been fortunate to work in many interesting roles – supervising some of our biggest banks at the height of the financial crisis and in quality control.  And more fortunate still to have an employer who has supported my interests in mentoring young people’s development and early careers.

Away from work, I am Mum to two grown up children and manage a small portfolio of properties.  I am also passionate about playing bridge which I have done for over thirty years including at international level.

I am excited by the opportunity to work as a Governor at Copthall.  I am motivated by a desire to help young people achieve their potential and develop skills for their future lives through education: both in and outside the classroom.  A school that is forward-looking with effective governance has a key role to play in creating a supportive, responsive environment.

Appointed by Members 13/03/2019
 

I am Afiya. I am a Senior Technical Program Manager at the technology organisation Onfido.  I currently oversee the delivery of change and development. At Onfido we verify identities digitally – we use just a smartphone to validate a picture of an ID card and your Biometrics with a selfie.  Leading program management in one of the top fastest-growing tech companies in the UK requires, agility, scalability, organisation, leadership, empathy as well as both technical and strategic understanding.

I grew up in a neighbouring borough to Copthall in North London and attended a comprehensive secondary school in Barnet. I am very much a proud Londoner! I studied Material Science & Engineering at the University of Manchester graduating with a Masters in Engineering.

Having this background in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (otherwise known as STEM), and having skills in program management, has enabled me to have a vast, diverse and exciting career.  I have worked in areas from research and publishing my scientific discoveries for the MOD, to traveling the world improving advanced materials manufacturing processes, to leading business planning and program management with the UK's largest online retail operations at Tesco. I have also been involved in delivering initiatives for Artificial intelligence to verify identities remotely around the world.

STEM ambassadorship and encouraging young people to consider STEM studies and careers has long been a commitment of mine and I have founded initiatives to drive the connection with industry and education. I work within industries where whole economies and top jobs are often only a few years old but are rapidly making the status quo obsolete. We have new ways of communicating, transacting, shopping, working and learning, and I want to ensure young people are not just impacted by this but equipped for it.

Being a Governor of such an ambitious school like Copthall is such an important honour & responsibility to ensure the best and fair learning & development for all.

Appointed by Members 13/03/2019

I read English at QMUL and then qualified as a solicitor. I spent 30 years as a lawyer in the City, 18 of those as a senior equity partner at Ashurst LLP, in many leadership positions.

I have now left private practice and am a board director and trustee with social mobility charity The Brilliant Club; a member of the governing Council at Cranfield University; advisory board member at AccessEd; from April 2021 I was appointed Dean at the University of Law, Moorgate, postgraduate campus and an angel investor in start-up businesses.

I am an advocate of diversity and inclusion, ensuring that young women are both educated and empowered to reach their full potential. 

Appointed by Members 13/04/2016

I have spent most of my working life in education, starting as a teacher in the primary and secondary sectors. 

I then went into Further Education and started as a teacher moving into management.  My managerial responsibility has been varied and has covered Student support, marketing, HR, Curriculum area management and Strategic Planning. It also included three restructures and a merger. 

I was a senior manager at Barnet College for 19 years, in my final role deputising for the Principal and I am a local resident, so have a good knowledge of the local knowledge of the area and its’ schools.

For the last seven years I have been working for Barnet Council with responsibility for Post 16 Education and Skills working with schools, including Copthall across the borough. 

I have a particular interest in Copthall as my daughter was a pupil at the school and would like pupils now to have the same positive experience she had, although the educational context is very different today.

I have been working in scientific and clinical research for over 20 years and currently work as a Clinical Program Manager, specialising in developing and organising clinical trials in Rare Disease Studies. My work has helped to bring important drugs to the market and providing much needed therapies for both adults and children who suffer from life limiting diseases.

As a female scientist and together with my own personal experiences, I have a keen interest in promoting STEM subject education in girls and particularly in ethnic minority groups. I have obtained a BSc Hons in Biochemistry from Imperial College; a Masters in Immunology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and then went on to achieve my PhD in Immunology from UCL. My A’ Level chemistry teacher, was a significant inspiration and influence to me as a young student. This experience, has taught me how it can take just one teacher or influential adult to shape a young person’s future.

Outside of work, I am a busy mother of three children. I enjoy spending time with family and friends and travelling when time permits.

It’s a privilege to be given this opportunity and to be able to contribute towards Copthall’s goals for educating and inspiring the next generation of young people. My own daughter has just begun her secondary education and journey at Copthall and I am excited to be part of it with her, in the capacity of a parent governor.

 Biography to follow.

Appointed by FGB 16/09/2020

Jane is the former Head at Mill Hill School, having worked as the Principal Deputy Head prior to August 2018. She is currently working part-time in the School’s Development Office, supporting the School’s ongoing commitment to raising funds for bursaries and capital projects.  Jane studied Geography at Sheffield University and began her teaching career at Rowlinson School in Sheffield, before taking up a position in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for four years. Upon her return to the UK, she joined The Henrietta Barnet School in North London and then moved to Whitefield, a school facing extra challenging circumstances, in 1999.

Jane joined Mill Hill School as the Deputy Head Pastoral in 2003. She is passionate about education and has a wealth of experience as a senior leader in secondary education. Utilising this experience, she is the link governor for Safeguarding at Copthall.

Appointed by FGB 04/12/2019

I have been a Mathematics teacher for more than 27 years, with most of that time spent working in Mill Hill. I have also been lucky enough to live in Mill Hill itself for over 17 years, less than a mile away from Copthall School, so I feel I have always known about the school if not actively visiting it much before now.

I started my career at Mill Hill County High School, and when I left after 9 years, I was also in charge of collecting and analysing the data for the whole school, both internal and external; helping pupils and staff to engage with this data and showing how it could inform decisions leading to better teaching and learning.

I then spent 12 years as Head of Mathematics at Mill Hill School before leaving there in August 2017 to become Director of Studies at St Helen’s School in Northwood. My role encompasses Curriculum development and Teaching and Learning most notably, as well as having a key role in helping develop the timetable. These are all the type of whole school issues I have been more and more interested and involved in during my career. I left St Helen’s in 2022 to become return to Maths teaching and leading the school’s Cross Country team and am there at present.

I have always liked to be involved in many things outside of the classroom, feeling this is essential to the development of children into successful adults. Therefore, I have developed and taken a Running Club at both Mill Hill and St Helen’s and have also been an officer in the Royal Navy section of the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) for more than 17 years, taking various day and overnight trips to Naval establishments and on water-based activities.

Outside of school I have become increasingly involved with volunteering and I see this as the main reason I have become a governor at Copthall as I feel I can give more of myself to help others. Therefore, I am currently a fully qualified Athletics coach, coaching young middle-distance runners at nearby Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers more than 7 years, indeed, regularly coaching girls who have come over from Copthall in the past. I also volunteered at both the World Athletics and World Para Athletics Championships at the London Stadium in 2017 which was a fantastic experience I would recommend to all, and I will definitely be looking for other such opportunities in the future.

My wife works in a Barnet Primary School and I have 2 daughters, one who has just completed her MEng in Chemical Engineering at Manchester University studying Chemical Engineering and the other studying History at York University.

Appointed by Members 12/12/2018

My name is Kasia and I spent most of my school years in the 90’s and early 00’s surrounded by fantastic, inspirational teachers and an environment that made me want to never stop questioning and exploring. I now want to pass on such educational environment to others.

I am a qualified teacher of English as a Foreign Language and while I don’t teach, my work has always contained a major element of looking after the development of others. I completed my BA in English Philology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, and my MSc in International Relations in beautiful Scotland at Aberdeen University. 

I am a Chartered member of CIPD and I currently work in the construction industry for J. Murphy & Sons. I have over 10 years of experience in people and organisational development across Media, Manufacturing, Logistics and Oil and Gas industries, as well as the public sector.

I am thrilled to be on Copthall’s Governing Board and hope to positively influence the current and future successes of the school and its pupils.

 My name is Nikki Ogun, and I am a solicitor specialising in financial services at a commercial law firm called Hogan Lovells International LLP. I grew up (and still live) in Mill Hill, north-west London. I am a former student of Copthall School, and spent all of my secondary school years there before going on to take my A-Levels at Woodhouse College in Finchley.

I have a keen interest in and passion for diversity. I am particularly interested in the recruitment and career development of talented people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. At my firm, I sit on the steering committee for our race and ethnicity employee network, known as the REAHL Network (which stands for Race and Ethnicity @ Hogan Lovells). As a Network, our objective is to come up with innovative solutions which support the firm’s strategic commitment to the retention, progression and inclusion of lawyers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. As a part of the Network, I am involved in organising events, firm-wide discussions and student open days centred around topics of race and ethnicity. I also speak at and organise events targeted at improving diversity in the legal profession, in particular as it pertains to black women. I started up a Club on the popular discussion app ‘Clubhouse’ called the Black Women’s Law Club, which has just under 2,500 members, and aims to provide information and access to networking opportunities for women who are interested in legal careers at all levels.

As part of my commitment to diversity, I feel it is important to be visible, and share my experiences following a professional career path with young people, especially those who have a similar background to me. I often speak at school careers fairs and career insight days (mostly at Copthall!) to try to encourage students to explore their academic interests, and to think about how they can navigate a successful future – whatever that looks like for them.

Being a governor at Copthall is especially important to me as a former student of the school. I feel I owe a great amount of my current skills and qualities to the teaching I received at Copthall and the relationships I developed with my fellow students there. I take pride in the opportunity to be directly involved in supporting Copthall in continuing its success as an excellent institution for students to develop both academically and socially, in what are the most important years of their lives.    

 Biography to follow